Last week’s episode of Supernatural was always going to be a hard act to follow. I mean, it’s not easy to beat an hour filled with major brotherly love and hellhounds. So I was not surprised that this week’s episode, which was about a witch with a scrambled noggin, felt a little less exciting than the last few episodes.

That said, it wasn’t without its great moments.

One such moment came right at the top of the episode, right after the Stooge conversation (see below). Sam and Dean had arrived at a motel after a long drive, and we got the sense that Dean still wasn’t quite ok with Sam taking on the trials on his own. It was just a small moment, but I liked that we tackled this right off the top of the episode, because it set a tone for the rest of their interactions in the episode…

Speaking of which, the main storyline of the episode kicked off when a sweet, belly-rub seeking Doberman showed up on the doorstep of the boys’ hotel room, only to turn into a leggy, scantily-clad woman just moments after Dean’s return from a beer run. Before the boys ganked this presumed shifter, she explained that she was something called a “familiar,” a witch’s half-animal/half-human companion. (Note: She walked around as either one or the other, not both at the same time, which would have been very awkward.)

We later learned that this woman, named Portia, was actually the one who had contacted Sam and Dean because she was worried about her witch, James Frampton, a police officer who’d saved Dean and Sam’s butt once upon a time. (When the boys first met him, he was not practicing magic, but became interested in it after working with them. Oops.) James had been having strange nightmares about murdering people and waking up to find that these people had actually been killed. And there was a trail leading right back to him. Portia had tried to help, but James had also started severing their once open lines of telepathic communication. She’d hoped the Winchesters would help crack the case. After all, she pleaded, James had been using his new witch powers for good.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Portia remained confident in James’s innocence and she became even more sure of it after they had a little…um…intimate time together (a concept that blew Dean’s brain to bits). During their personal connection, she absorbed some of his memories and even though she saw the murders occur, they seemed fishy because there was no premeditation, which led her to believe the memories weren’t his own.

She was right. It turned out that another witch had been controlling James’s mind and inserting memories into his brain. (It wasn’t one of James’s fellow cops, as they’d initially suspected; he was merely a pawn.) This witch was jealous that Portia had chosen James to be her master, and her rejection hurt this witch even more after the pair “went all Bella and Edward,” he explained. (Award for best line given to an extra goes to…)

Anyway, they killed him using a witch bomb, which was awesome.

After the boys’ first confrontation at the top of the episode, I didn’t expect for this episode to revisit their trust issues. (I guess the last couple of seasons made me patient and somewhat accustomed to the Supernatural slow burn.) But to my surprise, they addressed them twice more. You see, midway through the episode, Dean had made some comments that made Sam feel like Dean had no confidence in his abilities to complete the tests. (“You know, I’ve been going over this and over this, asking myself, ‘Why doesn’t he trust me.’ And it occurred to me finally that it’s not that you don’t trust me, it’s that you can only trust you,” Sam said.) By the end, after the brothers had been forced to encounter some of the darker memories of their past during the battle with the evil witch, Dean admitted that his hesitations were misplaced. “When I look back at what our family has been through – what everybody’s been through – and seeing all that pain, I realized that the only way we made it through it all was by hanging together,” he told Sam. And it was perfect.

Too bad Sam appears to be anything but perfect, which takes me into my burning questions: What the hell do you think is wrong with Sam? Also, what did you think of the episode? Do you agree with Dean or Sam on the Great Stooges Debate of 2013? Did you like the introduction of Familiars to the show mythology? Did we know Dean was allergic to cats? Do you hope we see more of the witches? Did you enjoy the cool scene where the evil witch got inside Dean and Sam’s noodles? And how cool was that witch bomb?

Oh, one more question: Which was the best QUOTEABLE of the night? Check them out below for review:

Dean: Man, of all the lame-ass things you’ve ever said, that’s gotta be the lame-assiest.
Sam: I’m sorry, but I happen to think Shemp was a funnier Stooge than Curly.
Dean: Curly was a freaking genius.
Sam: I always found his work to be a little bit obvious.
Dean: It’s supposed to be obvious, man, they’re Stooges.

Sam to Dean re, the dog: Before you get pissed off, I just wanted to let you know that this isn’t my fault. She just showed up at the door, ok? Didn’t track in any mud – just wanted her belly scratched. I figured we just let her stay the night and we’d try to find her a home tomorrow?
[opens door to reveal…a woman]
Dean: She can stay the night.

“He’s got the booga-booga on his side.” – Dean, re: man + witchcraft

“I’m a Wiccan. I’m from Detroit.” – Dean, being unsmooth

Dean: I gotta ask…
Portia: Which came first: the dog or girl?
Dean: Yeah. I mean, I’m curious which one you consider yourself.
Portia: This have anything to do with what I told you last night? How you’re imagining it?
Dean: What? No. That’s…yes.
(submitted by @LauraMar2013)

“Oh, by the way, gotta hand it to you. It’s been 15 hours since Portia mentioned her night with James and not one bestiality joke out of you!” – Sam (submitted by ‏@melliehan)

James: Dean, a witch can go to a place without actually going to a place.
Dean: What? Like phone sex?
(submitted by ‏@melliehan)

“When I look back at what our family has been through – what everybody’s been through – and seeing all that pain, I realized that the only way we made it through it all was by hanging together. I trust you, Sammy. With this deal, locking those sons of bitches up in the furnace once and for all, it’s too important not to.” (submitted by @ghosthunter718 @Luh_Nolla and @arashimurasaki)

Thanks to all who submitted their favorite quotes. Make sure you follow me on Twitter so you can share yours next week.